New documentary co-produced by Miami Herald examines Miami’s role in LGBT-rights movement

BY AMINDA MARQUÉS GONZALEZ

AMARQUES@MIAMIHERALD.COM

On the morning of Jan. 19, 1977, it snowed in South Florida for the first and only time.

To many, it was as improbable an event as the ground-breaking human rights ordinance narrowly approved by the Miami-Dade Commission the night before, even as critics said it would pass “when hell freezes over.”

It was a short-lived victory. Anita Bryant, the face of Florida’s citrus industry, launched an opposition campaign that led to the repeal of the ordinance and thrust the state — and the gay rights issue — into the national spotlight. It would take 21 years for Miami-Dade County to restore the ordinance, which prohibited discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community members in the public sector.

We chronicle that trajectory in a new documentary, The Day It Snowed In Miami, a collaboration between the Miami Herald, el Nuevo Herald, independent filmmaker Joe Cardona and WPBT2, the local PBS affiliate. The idea for the film was conceived two years ago, as the public debate over gay rights, including same-sex marriage and adoption, gained momentum in the national political discourse.